Systems and methods for asset valuation

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for asset valuation, whole loan processing and inventory management is described. The systems and methods may include modules. An asset valuation tool may use multiple data sources for producing current and predicted future values and historical and intermediate data points on a requested timeline. A loan information pricing tool may perform unlimited volumes of loan program eligibility and multi-variable pricings on a user desktop. A workout activity tracking tool may capture, monitor, measure and report on a loan workout process including direct hosting and integration of the asset valuation tool and the loan information pricing tool. The present invention may offer diverse and competitive modular components as well as an integrated and innovative platform that does not exist in the market.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/859,104, filed Apr. 9, 2013, which is a divisional of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/813,657, filed Jun. 11, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No.8,442,908, issued May 14, 2013, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/186,687, filed Jun. 12, 2009; thecontent of which is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to financial systems and, morespecifically, to systems and methods for value-added analysis,administration and execution of asset valuation, whole loan pricing andinventory management. The present invention offers various modularcomponents as well as an integrated platform.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many businesses operate in the residential mortgage industry. Types ofentities that operate in the residential mortgage industry includebuyers, sellers, brokers, lenders, credit agencies, valuation andappraisal firms, title and insurance firms, financial facilitators, loanservicers, trustees and countless other intermediaries.

Mortgage origination, sales and trading are not new businesses. Thereare, however, many difficulties and inefficiencies in the market in itscurrent state. Conducting due diligence on a single loan, valuing asingle property, and evaluating the borrower(s) ability and willingnessto reliably pay the mortgage for a property are very labor intensive,technically complex, multi-step processes. Administering a business thatexecutes these steps thousands of times in parallel, whilesimultaneously monitoring and reporting progress to stakeholders andinvestors, requires technological and business process innovation, is amulti-dimensional challenge of time, effort, information, analysis andresources.

There are existing technologies that address scaling of specific stepsand functions in the mortgage industry. There are organizations thatwork in some or multiple industry segments. The business processes andtechnologies that exist, however, are limited in several respects. Mostprocesses and technologies lack the ability to value individual loans byspecific investment exits, scale operations without sacrificingtransaction speed or consistency of service, and/or track progress ofeach borrower and related mortgage at various stages of the overallprocess. Current processes and technologies are further limited in theirability to evaluate large pools of mortgages in terms of current andexpected future market value. There is currently no universally acceptedvaluation method. Banks are understandably hesitant to make a loansecured by an asset that may deteriorate in value below acceptablestandards. Investors may wait on the sideline holding cash because theyare unable to determine a price that banks and mortgage owners willaccept, but which also provides adequate returns to facilitateinvestment of financial and intellectual capital. Investors are alsouncertain as to which available retail refinance and hold strategiesmaximize investment yields while minimizing negative effects to borrowercredit or asset value deterioration. Additionally, borrowers are unsurewhich modification or subsidy programs will prevail in the market, andare consequently unsure whether to continue making mortgage payments ornot. Industry limitations are increasing obvious when reviewing dailynews reports noting how the world's leading financial firms andgovernment agencies struggle to determine values and optimal strategiesfor mitigating losses and maximizing the value of large mortgage assetportfolios.

Property Valuation: For property valuations, appraisal and brokeragefirms search for listing and sales price comparables. The most commonforms these analyses take is that of an Automated Valuation Model (AVM),or a Broker Price Opinion (BPO). Both forms require street address leveldata.

The most relied upon index that tracks home price valuation trends isthe Case-Shiller index, which is only valid for 40% of the United Statesby geographic area. It excludes new construction, only incorporatessingle family homes (not condos or other home types), and has severalother limitations that make it impossible to rely on it exclusively as aproxy for homes price trends nationwide.

Some leading appraisal use or apply some combination of marketcomparables and appraiser expertise, with desktop underwriting (DU) andAVM. Many companies have some version of an AVM, but they often use datathat is very broad and does not return a reliable estimate of value.Limitations of these models are similar to Case-Shiller in that they donot include enough data to produce market specific valuations. Forinstance, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), formerly known asthe Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), has a houseprice calculator on its website that requires only the state or MSA(Metropolitan Statistical Area), purchase calendar quarter, valuationquarter, and purchase price to return a value estimate. So, for example,data from Baltimore could influence the value of a subject home inGeorgetown, a Washington, D.C. neighborhood, because the data is onlyMSA specific at best, which includes data from Baltimore and Georgetown,among other areas. AVMs require the analyst to select input data whichintroduces a high degree of variability. These valuations ostensiblytake into account the property's level of finishes, amenities, location,size, age of appliances and other factors to provide some proxy of acomparable price per square foot, which can then be applied to thesubject property to estimate a value range. Each lacks a realisticincorporation of market valuation trends over time, and further lack anyindication as to future value based on moving averages and sales andsupply/demand trends or home price indexes and futures markets whichincorporate some of these influences.

BPOs require a person to travel to a property, observe and make note ofappearance and property condition, occupancy, neighborhoodcharacteristics, and other on site data as well as compare availablepublic information about the subject property to market comparable datato estimate a value for the property. Limitations of this approach arethat the evaluations are subject to human error and interpretation aswell as the approach becomes unwieldy when evaluating thousands ofproperties in a matter of days.

Mortgage Asset Valuation: For mortgage pool valuations, the federalgovernment, private banks and investors value mortgage pools generallyuse aggregate pool characteristics, taking, for example, weightedaverage coupon figures, general borrower credit characteristics, broadlyassigning risk weightings or expected cash flow probabilities by risklevel. These organizations then discount cash flows to present valueusing some weighted average cost of capital as the discount rate, andadjust the purchase price to back into an acceptable level of return.This approach to valuing mortgage pools is inaccurate and unreliable.Consequently, limited trading occurs because investors do not havesufficient confidence in this model. A negative feedback loop resultswhere the markets become more illiquid, and the assets become moredifficult to value for market stakeholders, which in turn makes themarkets even more illiquid, etc.

Evaluating Exits: Mortgage owners and investors take a narrow approachin evaluating mortgage investment exit options. Banks at some pointswitched from a “lend and hold the loan on balance sheet” to a “lend,pool and securitize model”. Banks prefer the quick fees associated withmortgage origination over the lower yielding, but relativelypredictable, interest income from holding the loans to maturity.Investors currently gravitate to one of three main mortgage loanstrategies: 1) flip the loans to a higher bidder, 2) foreclose and sellthe asset, 3) hold the loans to maturity or until the value recovers andthen flip the loans.

Needs exist for improved systems and methods for asset valuation, wholeloan pricing and inventory management of increasingly complex portfoliosof diverse products, as well as analysis and processes to maximizevalue.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention solve many of the problems and/orovercome many of the drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art byproviding systems and methods for asset valuation, whole loan pricingand inventory management. While each embodiment may be used as astand-alone system and method, they may also share a common integratedplatform for increased visibility and efficiency.

Embodiments of the present invention may include a process for assetvaluation. A query may be received from a user regarding an asset forvaluation. Data related to the asset may be accessed from a plurality ofdata sources. The data may include at least a first index value for theasset, a second index value for the asset, and a first valuation value.An index of monthly value percentage changes may be calculated from thefirst index value for the asset and the second index value for theasset. The index of monthly value percentage changes may then be appliedto the first valuation value to create an estimated valuation value. Theestimated valuation value may be presented to the user responsive to thequery.

Embodiments of the present invention may also include a system for loanpricing. A processor may interface interfacing with one or more thirdparty servers, interface with a plurality of databases in communicationwith the one or more third party servers, and interface with one or moreclient devices. The processor may format a pool of loans and provide aplurality of parameters for loan pricing to the one or more clientdevices before receiving a selection from the one or more client devicesof one or more of the plurality of parameters. The processor may processthe pool of loans based upon the one more of the plurality ofparameters; and provide loan pricing for the pool of loans to the one ormore client devices.

Embodiments of the present invention may also include a system fortracking a loan workout process. A processor may interface with one ormore client devices and interface with one or more vendor systems. Theprocessor may accept a query from the one or more client devicesregarding the loan workout and track the status of the loan workout. Theprocessor may receive input from the vendor systems regarding the statusof the loan workout and update the status of the loan workout based uponthe input from the vendors. The processor may provide logical controlsto prevent mistakes during the loan workout, and report the status forthe loan workout to the one or more client devices in response to thequery.

Embodiments of the present invention may also include systems andmethods for asset valuation, whole loan processing and inventorymanagement. The systems and methods may include modules. An assetvaluation tool may use multiple data sources for producing current andpredicted future values and historical and intermediate data points on arequested timeline. A loan information pricing tool may performunlimited volumes of loan program eligibility and multi-variablepricings on a user desktop. A workout activity tracking tool maycapture, monitor, measure and report on a loan workout process includingdirect hosting and integration of the asset valuation tool and the loaninformation pricing tool. The present invention may offer diverse andcompetitive modular components as well as an integrated and innovativeplatform that does not exist in the market.

Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention areset forth or apparent from consideration of the following detaileddescription, drawings and claims. Moreover, it is to be understood thatboth the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detaileddescription are exemplary and intended to provide further explanationwithout limiting the scope of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of theinvention and together with the detailed description serve to explainthe principles of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system for asset valuation in a networkedcomputing environment.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary server for asset valuation in a networkedcomputing environment.

FIG. 3 shows a process for current and future valuations.

FIG. 4 shows a process for index adjustments and determining confidencelevels.

FIG. 5 shows a process for determining zip code level indices.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary process for a workout data flow.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are an exemplary analytical process diagram.

FIG. 8A is an analytical process diagram for an exemplary workflow, andFIG. 8B is an analytical process diagram for an exemplary life of loaninformation system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Systems and methods are described for asset valuation, whole loanpricing and inventory management, both separately and as an integratedservice platform. Although not required, the systems and methods aredescribed in the general context of computer program instructionsexecuted by one or more computing devices. Computing devices typicallyinclude one or more processors coupled to data storage for computerprogram modules and data. Key technologies include, but are not limitedto, the multi-industry standards of 32-bit and 64-bit MicrosoftOperating Systems, SQL Server, .NET Framework (VB.NET, ASP.NET,AJAX.NET, JAVA, C#, etc.), Oracle database BIEE products, othere-Commerce products and computer languages. Such program modulesgenerally include computer program instructions such as queries,routines, programs, tasks, objects, components, winforms, etc., forexecution by the at least one processor to perform particular tasks,utilize data, data structures, and/or implement particular abstract datatypes. While the systems, methods, and apparatus are described in theforegoing context, acts and operations described hereinafter may also beimplemented in hardware and virtual hardware environments.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system 100 for asset valuation, according toone embodiment. In this exemplary implementation, system 100 includesasset valuation server/computing device 102 operatively coupled overnetwork 104 to one or more client computing devices 106 (e.g., 106-1through 106-N) and one or more databases 108. Asset valuationserver/computing device 102 represents, for example, any one or more ofa server, a general-purpose computing device such as a server, apersonal computer (PC), a laptop, and/or so on. Networks 104 represent,for example, any combination of the Internet, local area network(s) suchas an intranet, wide area network(s), and/or so on. Such networkingenvironments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computernetworks, etc. Client computing devices 106, which may include at leastone processor, represent a set of arbitrary computing devices executingapplication(s) that respectively send data inputs 110 to asset valuationserver/computing device 102 and/or receive data outputs 120 from assetvaluation server/computing device 102. Such computing devices include,for example, one or more of desktop computers, laptops, mobile computingdevices (e.g., PDAs), server computers, and/or so on. In thisimplementation, the input data comprises, for example, valuation data,market data, index data, third party data, and/or so on, for assetvaluation with system 100. In one implementation, the data outputsinclude, for example, a current valuation, future valuation, and/or soon.

In this exemplary implementation, server 102 includes at least oneprocessor 202 coupled to a system memory 204, as shown in FIG. 2. Systemmemory 204 includes computer program modules 206 and program data 208.In this implementation program modules 206 include LIPS module 210, WATSmodule 212, RAPS module 214, and other program modules 216 such as anoperating system, device drivers, etc. Each program module 210 through216 includes a respective set of computer-program instructionsexecutable by processor(s) 202. This is one example of a set of programmodules and other numbers and arrangements of program modules arecontemplated as a function of the particular arbitrary design and/orarchitecture of server 102 and/or system 100 (FIG. 1). Additionally,although shown on a single computing device 102, the operationsassociated with respective computer-program instructions in the programmodules 206 could be distributed across multiple computing devices.Program data 208 may include valuation data 220, public and privatemarket data 222, index data 224, and other program data 226 such as datainput(s), third-party data, and/or so on.

Residential Asset Pricing System (RAPS)

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention may include a ResidentialAsset Pricing System (RAPS). The systems and methods of the presentinvention may be residential property valuation tools that use multipledata sources to generate one or more simultaneous indexes of monthlyvalue percentage changes for one or more residential market segmentsincluding but not limited to U.S., foreign, regional, state, county,city, neighborhood, and zip code. Each segment index may be furtherdissected by one or more residential property attributes including butnot limited to single-family homes, condominiums, cooperatives,townhomes, multi-family homes, and manufactured homes. Any of theseindices may also be divided along the lines of other select attributesincluding but not limited to the number of bedrooms, interior size, landsize or age. The monthly value percentage changes may then be applied todata in original appraisals from some time in the past to generate acurrent and projected property value. RAPS may offer users the abilityto request property valuations in batches from one to tens of thousandsof properties simultaneously. RAPS may use a multiple-point-in-timevaluation technique that allows users to request an output value for theproperty at any point in time forward or backwards. RAPS may use awholly different process for generating values.

Existing systems use a hedonic methodology for generating values, i.e.,they disassemble a property into its constituent characteristics such asnumber of bedrooms, square footage, location, lot size, and propertytype. Existing systems then run these characteristics through anadditive formula that adds the values. For example, three bedrooms wouldbe worth $25,000; 2,000 sq. ft. would be worth $50,000; the location isworth $75,000; the lot size is worth $25,000; and the fact that it's atown home is worth $50,000. Thus, the entire property is worth $225,000.This is in contrast to the RAPS methodology, which uses amarket-relativistic method that takes a known good value for a propertyat a point in time and ranks it as a percentile of home valuations inthat market. RAPS may then track homes at that percentile of valuethrough time to give the value at whatever time period is requested.

Furthermore, RAPS uses different data sets. Existing systems use publicrecord data that can be wrought with errors and is historically 1-6months behind the current market depending upon the county recordingoffice's backlog in a particular region. RAPS may use public record datathat has been scrubbed for inconsistencies and has had data errorsremoved. RAPS may also use public indexes to track movement over time;private appraisal data; and local economic data, which are not used byexisting systems.

The systems and methods of the present invention may incorporatemultiple data sources, both public and private, and combinationsthereof. The data sources may be variable depending on particularapplications. The data sources may include broker price options, actualappraisals, and populations of individual property valuations andestimates. These may include market estimates and other tracking indexesas well as listing and actual property-level transaction data. This mayenable the present invention to produce more current estimates, since areliance on any one data source leads to a time-lag bias since not alldata sources are updated and released frequently.

The systems and methods of the present invention may also use futuresdata from futures and options exchanges for available markets, and applytrend and growth statistical analysis, as shown in FIG. 3. This mayprovide predictive capabilities to take current values and acceleratingor decelerating rates of appreciation or depreciation and estimatefuture home price values. RAPS may search for an index value for alocation at a first date and search for an index value for the currentdate for that location 301. A delta may be determined based upon anoriginal index and a current index, and applied to the originalvaluation to obtain an estimated valuation for a location 303. Futurevaluations may be determined using statistical methods, such as, but notlimited to, sliding weighted averages 305. For assets with futures data,the future index and the current index can be connected mathematicallyusing statistical methods, giving more weight to the future contract thecloser it is. For assets without futures data, strong directionalrelationships may be identified between Case-Shiller indices withfutures data. The Case-Shiller index may be used as an independentvariable and may help to predict other indices without futures data. Forassets with no futures information and no suitable relationship for aregression analysis, various moving-average trend equations may beperformed to predict future valuations. Predictive valuations can bemade up to 12 months or more from the current date. Besides the inherentpromise of the creation of a future value, there may be many productiveuses of that value. For example, if a loan is made today at a 97% loanto value ratio, but the subject property's market is declining at 2% permonth, the loan will be “underwater” again in 2 months. This predictivecapability may enable more accurate pricing in value deterioration riskwhen purchasing or selling loans.

The systems and methods of the present invention also incorporate BrokerPrice Opinions (BPOs) and actual appraisals. When new appraisal data isreceived from any number of sources, directly or indirectly, thevaluation information may be incorporated into its index calculation. Soif prevailing data would indicate one level ofappreciation/depreciation, and actual appraisal values demonstrate asteeper or lesser rate of appreciation/depreciation, the index may beadjusted to reflect the new data. The systems and methods of the presentinvention may have an ability to learn as more data is incorporated toincreases its predictive capability and accuracy.

The systems and methods of the present invention may incorporatemultiple data sources. Data sources may include the previously prepared,predominant Case-Shiller Home Price Index, Federal Housing FinanceAgency (FHFA) or Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)and Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) data, also from FHFA, as well asindividual actual appraisals obtained through ongoing loan workoutprocesses. Data sources may also include the National Association ofRealtors, Trulia.com, and the combination of any or all MultipleListings Service (MLS) organizations to increase the accuracy of thepresent invention. It is important to note that the most detailedinformation the invention leverages may be the underlying selectcomparable properties own recorded transaction valuations.

The systems and methods of the present invention may apply the mostup-to-date market data of listing and sold prices not only for a givenstate or county or zip code, but for a selected level of locale and evenindividual properties specificity to provide the most accurate pricinggiven the available data and apply the most current and reliable data toasset valuations. In certain embodiments, every zip code in a given areamay be analyzed to determine an appropriate mix of indices used for thatgiven area. In these systems, all that may be required to obtain acurrent property valuation is an original appraisal value, originalappraisal date, property type, and 5-digit zip code. With thisinformation, the present invention can quickly produce valuationestimates for virtually an unlimited amount of homes. The invention mayfurther add value by allowing for more specific attribute indexvaluations (i.e., bedrooms, bathrooms, size, etc).

The present invention may also take and apply the aforementioned data toany available futures statistics, where available, and may useregression and moving average trend analysis to provide additionalinformation to predict future value out 1-12 or more months.

As indicated above, the systems and methods of the present invention mayimprove in accuracy over time, as shown in FIG. 4. This is whereimplementing actual appraisal data plays a role. Each time an appraisalis logged into the application, the present invention may determine howaccurate the initial index was in predicting that particular value 401.Depending on the number of appraisals logged in that zip code and theextent to which there was an error, the present invention may adjustthat particular zip code's index to reflect actual results. This mayallow constant adaption to changing markets and may allow the systemsand methods to become more accurate with each actual appraisal datapoint received. Finally, based on the amount of data/data points foreach location, confidence scores can be established to give the user anidea of how much weight to give the final valuation 403. A confidencescore may be applied to each valuation on a scale. A high confidencescore may mean that there are either an abundance of appraisals in thatarea or that the system has been extremely accurate in past predictionsfor this area.

Experimental Results: In terms of accuracy, the present invention wastracked with thousands of actual appraisals received. Thus far, thepresent invention has a 93% R-Squared with a 9% absolute average errorwhen used to predict property values within a portfolio. These figuresare statistically significant to a 1% level.

The systems and methods of the present invention may include auser-friendly platform and interface driven by programs such asMicrosoft Excel, Access, SQL Server, Visual Basic Studio and .NETtechnologies and their market and product competitors. Based on anappraisal at some past date, the present invention can apply thepercentage movement of the index over a period of time to obtain thecurrent value of a home. Case-Shiller alone, however, is onlyrepresentative of 40% of the country and is not accurate on a zip codelevel. A prime example of this would be evaluating real estate inWashington, D.C. using Case-Shiller data. Case-Shiller data not onlytracks zip codes in Washington, D.C., but also incorporates zip codesfrom as far away as Baltimore, Md. into the index. Including repeatsales data from real estate markets this different can cause issues whentrying to determine property level valuations. To enhance accuracy, anappropriate weighting of each data source mentioned above may beincorporated into every zip code in Washington, D.C. to create morerealistic predictions, as shown in FIG. 5. The present invention maytake information from a data source 501 before breaking the data intogroupings based upon area 503. Data may include zip code, originationdate, property type, original appraisal value, and other information.The result may be one or more valuation indexes for each zip code in agiven area 505 based on sources and attributes. Due to the availabilityand suitability of multiple indexes and comparable property valuations,embodiments of the present invention may leverage data from one, some orall sources to make standardized indexes for each identifiable zip codeto use for valuations in a zip code level index 507. And, the data maythen be determined for various past, present and future sates and timeperiods. Future index values may be predicted by statistical trendanalysis of the index of monthly value percentage changes, underlyingvalues of the index of monthly value percentage changes, or other marketindicators.

Unexpected results have occurred in areas where there exists little dataon home price changes or current market conditions, or where certainproperty types' rate of appreciation/depreciation is higher or lowerthan other property types. For instance, there may be a home price rateof change in a town in Arizona of −25% from one month to the next. Thisfigure could be misleading if the data included just a few sales of veryexpensive homes that are not that close to one another, or it mayactually be an accurate proxy for the market if the data set was largeenough. The present invention incorporates actual appraisal data andbroker price opinions to adjust an index value to reflect new zip codelevel data. This means that the present invention has and incorporatesdata in areas where other indexes do not.

Another unexpected result is that index values and available data mightindicate a 20% year over year decline in Miami property values. Ifsingle family homes held their value better than other property types,and condos actually fell 40% year over year, then an index could lead toan inaccurate predicted value. By incorporating actual appraisal dataand BPOs and adjusting the index by geography and property type, thepresent invention may correct for this data reliability issue byoffering more appropriate indexes to apply or choose from duringanalysis.

Loan Information Pricing System (LIPS)

Embodiments of the present invention may include a Loan InformationPricing System (LIPS). LIPS may be used for current mortgage quotes.LIPS may be a unique software bridge application designed to workbetween (1) secure server environments responsible for loan program andpricing engines (PPE) and/or (2) otherwise traditional desktopanalytical and business productivity tools like Microsoft (MS) OfficeSuite, MS Internet Explorer browser and their competitors.

The present invention allows an end-user to perform potentiallyunlimited volumes of loan program eligibility and multi-variablepricings by bringing server-side features to the user desktop. LIPS maycontrol the server-side applications and allow for the user to scale thespeed and volume capacities for pricing transactions entirely or nearlyentirely independent of the hosted pricing engine provider's ownexisting infrastructure and growth plan.

The present invention may reduce or eliminate the limiting performancedependence on a hosted PPE Software as a Service (SaaS) offering. Thepresent invention may provide access to scale the end-user bulk pricingcapabilities by dramatically increasing the speed, flexibility andusability of pricing results. The present invention may allow the userto substitute other available network resources and programming in placeof the existing service provider assets. This is usually not possible orfeasible due to the normal “lock-in” of the SaaS business model. Thepresent invention can be configured to leverage the user's own localarea network assets, such as servers, desktops, laptops, etc., by makingthem available to perform pricing. These additional resources may not beotherwise available to the PPE SaaS provider. The present invention maynot be limited to local resources and may control wide-area resourcesincluding “cloud computing” assets for greater performance scale andcost-effectiveness.

The present invention may be employed by a PPE SaaS subscriber for itsown direct consumption and benefit as described herein. It may beintegrated as an enabling technology by the PPE provider to scale theirown offering to subscribers. The present invention can also furtherreplace the existing SaaS provider-to-subscriber market. The presentinvention may allow third-party application hosting service providerswith available processing capacity to become virtual PPE networkenablers (VPPENE). Additionally, the present invention may make itpossible for the pure marketing of virtual PPE network operations(VPPENO). It may add scale where it does not currently exist, i.e.,inside and outside the handful of available PPEs.

LIPS may be a mortgage pricing interface. As compared with propertyvaluations, LIPS may interface with third party servers and databases todetermine what mortgage products are available for a property andborrower with certain given characteristics. The present invention mayinclude an interface that operates with third party servers anddatabases. A LIPS Upload format may run a macro in Excel that formats apool of loans for upload into the LIPS interface.

Available PPEs offer the promise of the best and most accurate pricingby comparing all available and eligible programs and determining thebest pricing for each loan submitted in a user interface. Because of thecurrent limiting technical approach to bulk pricing, they do not offerthe same depth of information and flexibility of choice when performingbulk loan pool pricing as they do for individual loans. Instead theyoffer a single best pricing per loan pool record (and discard the othermany dozens of eligible program pricing information that is not deemedthe best execution pricing at that time). Therefore, current bulkpricing practices may discard anywhere from 2-100 times the amount ofinformation that is kept (assuming 2-25 potential investors and 1-4potential loan programs to price). For example, there may be severalinvestors offering equivalent pricings in a competitive market, or theremay be multiple unique characteristics that are as important as price,but most of these are discarded and not available for consideration orlater review.

To obtain the best pricing on a pool of 5,000 actual loans, a user mayrequire the pricing of 100,000 loan scenarios due to the combinations of5,000 loans and several other variables. For example, adding a parameterof ten choices would turn 5,000 loans into 50,000 unique scenariosrequiring individual pricing transactions. Then, with the potential forup to twenty five investors and up to four programs each (whether theyare eligible or not), this quickly multiplies into a potentialunfiltered loan pricing set of 5,000,000 results. In this example, onebulk pricing job could burden a PPE system with the volume equivalentgreater than a typical day's volume for all subscribers. For theoffloading of the remote pricing to take place outside of the hostedPPE, each one of these 50,000 unique scenarios must be passed to theSaaS system to obtain the investor program and price for each. Thus, theresult is 50,000 individual two-way transactions resulting in 5,000,000records on the remote server. It would be more efficient if the 50,000requests would be transmitted as one batch request, and that all of theresults would be return as a single result set, as found in embodimentsof the present invention.

The present invention may bypass the traditional market practice of acentralized SaaS graphical user interface (GUI) and brings many of thehost PPE administrative functions and capabilities down to the end-userdesktop. The user may have administrative control over the pricing jobon the server(s), desktops, laptops, etc., and self-determination overthe hardware resources that can be applied to improve performance andscale.

The present invention may allow a user to direct pricing jobs across oneor more available application servers to achieve the fastest possibleresults, i.e., forced or adaptive load balancing. The available hardwareneed not be local, as the present invention provides for universalrouting and balancing of pricing execution based on the user prioritiesand the available resources at the time the pricing job is submitted andas they change during the duration of the job.

For example, if it takes 8 hours to complete a bulk pricing job usingthe existing solutions on a given server, the present invention mayallow the user to leverage 8 identical servers in a virtual parallelprocess to reduce the same to one hour. Depending on the user's needsand resources, they can leverage existing hardware, purchase compatiblehardware or rent CPU time (a/k/a Cloud Computing). The present inventionmay also serve as a router for matching job allocations and available.

The present invention may perform tasks on many technical and functionallevels, not just as a core PPE, and not limited to singular best pricingresults per loan as today's offerings provide. The present invention mayfacilitate the user at the desktop level to automatically build aspecific loan pool pricing job input table by accepting select loans andbuilding the combinations of complex loan scenarios by offeringmulti-variable parameter selections. Choices or parameters includeloan-to-value (LTV) percentages, credit scores, occupancy types and loanprogram and product types, amongst others. This may be how 5,000 actualloans become a 50,000 loan scenario pricing job. The present inventionmay profile the larger input table and sort and group comparable loansto construct an ordered table such that similar loan scenarios may bepriced closer together in time to avoid SaaS mid-job pricing updatescausing variances in expected identical results.

The GUI may provide for the user to choose from pre-formatted selectionsand/or to enter custom values. Examples may include a range of LTVs froma low to a high value in set incremental steps, perhaps from 50% to 95%in 5% steps, as well as 97% outside this sequence. The present inventionmay allow the user to not only establish these individual parameters,but also name and save the collection for later repeat execution whetherfor the same pool re-pricing, or for another pool job. The pricingprocess may take place at the user command, either on demand or as ascheduled event. Repeat re-pricings may also be scheduled.

The present invention may offer a differentiator from market PPEpractice by providing for job prioritization not only before the job isinitiated, but inline controls as well to accommodate newer, highpriority jobs that may require additional resources to meet deadlines.

In another departure from current offerings, the use of the presentinvention may be role-based and paired with an authorized network UserID and can be enabled to send email notifications of job progress by joband by user and job role. The distinction here is that different usersmay execute pricing jobs and other interested parties may be notifiedregarding the loans and pools being priced. For example, John Smith mayuse the present invention to price a loan pool of Option-Arm productfrom Lender XYZ and the present invention can be configured to notifythe user as well as the Option-Arm product specialist and the Lender XYZrelationship manager of the job being executed and when it is completewith summary results.

The present invention may govern and direct all server-side functionsfrom clearing the inbound database table in preparation for the new job,to moving the new bulk loan pool job input table to the server, toclearing all prior parameter settings, to configuring the new jobsettings based on the user selections described above. Following the ondemand and scheduled commands, the present invention may initiate eachpricing job on the application server, as directed, and calculate andestimate time-to-completion using extrapolation across the job scope(total number of records) based on the cumulative number of recordsprocessed at each one minute interval. The estimated job completion timeand countdown ticker may be re-evaluated and updated at one-minuteintervals until 90% of the total records have been processed and then ata ten-second interval until finished. A job dashboard may offerrole-based user visibility into current running job status as well asscheduled jobs. Additional objects on the dashboard may includeavailable resources and utilization levels. Users may have access toprevious job results. Because of the depth of quantitative results thatcan be generated and deleted by a PPE, the present invention mayspecifically allow the user to govern the depth of the best pricingexecution levels for each scenario from one to five or more deep. Thebenefit is that the user with a 50,000 loan scenario job can have accessto up to 250,000 qualitative results as needed as a fair balance betweenthe time to re-price for more information (if only the single best pricefor 50,000 scenarios had been saved) versus the overall storagerequirements if all 5,000,000 records were stored.

The present invention may bring together the multi-disciplinary bestpractices of the network router, print server, web server loadbalancing, optimal capacity utilization, contact-activities-timemanagement software, just-in-time inventory management, role-basedsecurity and e-commerce high-availability and user-friendly interfacestandards. The present invention may also leverage the combination oftechnology and process management to disintermediate the current PPESaaS business model along the lines that the wireless telecommunicationsindustry has seen success with mobile virtual network operators (MVNO)and mobile virtual network enablers (MVNE). The present invention maycreate the opportunity for intermediate layers of hardware resourceoptimization and wholesale pricing and resale opportunities.

LIPS may allow existing large scale transaction processing systems toscale faster and less expensively by being inserted as a dynamicmanagement and control application layer. Examples may include bondrating agencies, federal regulators, as well as government, corporateand any collateralized bond trading, risk management and portfolioanalytics operation where valuation is a key driver in decision making.

Workout Activity Tracking System (WATS)

Embodiments of the present invention may include a Workout ActivityTracking System (WATS). WATS may be a unique software application anddatabase platform that offers a dynamic user interface, drives businessprogress with a prescriptive and intelligent workflow and serves as asecure data warehouse and system of record for capturing, monitoring,measuring and reporting on the many moving parts of whole loan workoutprocess. “Workout” means many different things to the different playersin the mortgage pipeline, and the present invention may offer a newcommon platform that brings the various parties together to maximizerecovery in loan value, asset value and to reduce execution risk. WATSoffers direct hosting and integration of the RAPS and LIPS modules on acommon and secure platform capable of real-time data movements, analysisand reporting.

The present invention may be available as a SaaS offering, a traditionalhosted Application Service Provider (ASP) model, as well as an internalinstalled system whether for internal consumption or for use as aconsulting asset.

The present invention may integrate manufacturing supply chainmanagement philosophies, software development lifecycle planning;inventory management best practices, e-commerce efficiencies andscalability pioneered by peer-to-peer social networking tools. Thepresent invention may allow for a shared platform that enhances valuethrough transparency and real-time interaction. The present inventionmay offer high-performance and complementary tools sets and featuresthat enhance the ability to measure and either accelerate or slow theturnover of loans in the mortgage industry depending on your businessobjectives.

The present invention may solicit and accept a combination of inputsources from authorized end users to external public and private datasources. The present invention may track and report on aggregate andloan-level workout execution and servicing progress through theresolution process from boarding to borrower activities, application toappraisal, and underwriting to funding.

The present invention may offer transparency and accelerate execution bymeans of Aging Exceptions not only at the individual loan level, butalso at the aggregate Workout Partner, or Lender, level where Partnerloan officers, Partner managers and Service Providers can all see andcollaborate on the same issues and opportunities.

The present invention may offer a user-friendly, web-browser interfacewith the information and tools necessary to initiate and manage aworkout resolution through to completion. The technical platformintegrates multiple technologies to offer the best available onlineexperience as well as convenient PDF reports and Excel-based exports.

The present invention may incorporate multiple improvements overexisting shared database or shared decision information softwareprograms. These include the ability to track thousands of loans'progress from purchase through refinancing or some terminal processdecision in one centralized online database using batch processing;economies of scale can also increase the computational speed for largenumbers of loans. The present invention also may allow tracking multipleworkout partners' progress with respect to their assigned loansnationwide. The present invention may provide a centralize interface forhundreds of loan officers to keep track of their own assigned loans, andmake notes and updates as the loans progress towards some exit. Thepresent invention may allow timely reporting to stakeholders.

The present invention may offer a single common platform where not onlyspecialists (relationship managers, credit counselors, productspecialists, underwriters, processors, closers, etc.) at one company canlog in and see and contribute to the workout process of one or moreloans, but also a limitless number of hands-on users can watch andfacilitate workout progress as an extended team. By allowing or evenforcing disparate players in the life of the loan workout to collaborateand congregate around the day-to-day activities that they influence orexecute, the present invention may compress time and save effort tobring about increased turnover. Not only can the present inventionstreamline a multi-company process, but it may also increasetransparency and, therefore, confidence.

The present invention may bring together dozens of new and disparatetechnologies to assemble a robust, proprietary Web 2.0 applicationriding on a dedicated Microsoft SQL Server data warehouse platform. Itmay be a secure, special-purpose communications and operationsmanagement hub offering real-time, dynamic intelligent inputs andoutputs to the service provider for note holders, their partners,service clients and investors. It may be a many-to-many applicationoffering that offers greater value than the traditional one-to-one. Itmay provide flexible business intelligence reporting capabilities acrossmultiple data dimensions by pool, partner, investor and service clientall down to the loan level.

The present invention user interface may divide major workflow tasksinto pages, tabs and zones. Pages include an initial “My Loans” pagewhere each individual only has access and visibility into their ownloans assignments. A “Workout Activity Tracking” page may offer theability to open multiple simultaneous loans in individual tabs to haveimmediate access. Each Tab may hold a consistent layout of unique zonesthat group data fields according to these current categories orfunctional areas such as, but not limited to: Borrower, Borrower FICO,Borrower Activity, Original Loan, Loan Documents, Property, PropertyValuations, New Loan, Other Liens, Special Circumstances, Payoff &Variance, Milestones, etc. Other pages may include an online forumand/or user manual to facilitate the exchange of information, ideas andtraining and learning.

In particular, the present invention may offer an independent andintegrated security application that governs all levels of access fromeach user login to individual loan-level access through to independentfield-level security. This may allow the business owners and operatorsto maintain self-determination over access and real-time reporting.

The present invention may have an integrated security application thatmay govern all levels of access from user login to field-level security.This custom security toolset may be independent of the broader networksecurity largely governed by Microsoft Active Directory (AD) or asimilar system. For example, operators of the present invention mayonboard a new employee and establish their AD user ID and profile withaccess to Outlook or a similar system, shared folders and files andother resources such as drives and printers, but that individual wouldstill not have access to the present invention, as they would not yethave a user ID for the present invention. Furthermore, even a valid userID and password may not grant access to any data with the presentinvention. Access to the data is a multi-step and multi-dimensionalprocess and could proceed as follows (one example):

1. Obtain approval—Even before a new User ID is created, approval fromInvention admin/manager is required.

2. Create new User ID—Creating new user IDs and overall accessadministration is the unique responsibility of the Inventionadministrator who must obtain the approval of management in order toestablish new users by creating a new user ID and password.

3. Assign a Role—A named user must be granted one or more predeterminedRoles—Roles include but are not limited to a User, Partner Lead, PartnerLoan Officer Manager, Partner Loan Officer and Escalation Team. Forexample, only users that belong to the Variance Approver Role canapprove a variance in the Invention. Partner Leads and Partner Managerscan manage the loan-level access of the down-line Roles of Partner LoanOfficer and Partner Operations. These last two bottom-level Roles may bedifferent in name to help reflect the best practice that Loan Officersusually have select individual loans and Operations staff have all loansin order to be available to support any Loan Officer at a moment'snotice.

4. Place in Partner hierarchy—Only after having a Role assigned to thenew User ID may that User available in the Invention User Securitymodule to be placed into one Partner hierarchy. A User can only belongto one Partner hierarchy. Therefore, individually-named Partnerorganizations must also be established before a User can access anydata.

5. Grant access to loans—Only after a User ID is created, a Role may beassigned and a Partner hierarchy is established and properly aligned inthe Security module, can individual loans be granted to a named user. Atthat time, the user can be identified as the Primary Loan Officer, whichgrants no special privileges in the present invention, but is useful forreporting purposes and supports the sense of ownership for loans andBorrower relationships.

6. Field-level control—The Administrator may have the ability to makeindividual field-level behavior modifications by making each field notvisible, read-only, or editable.

7. Monitor by loan pool—A loan-level, loan pool structure may be inplace to assist in organization and access execution. A loan may onlybelong to one pool, therefore it is easy to monitor, review and reportnot only on loan pool performance, but also on Partner and individualPrimary Loan Officer assignments.

8. One-click control—While the security module and data architecture mayrequire multiple people and process executions to grant a User access toone loan, it only takes one mouse click to remove said access by“un-authorizing” that individual. With that one action, the User maylose all access to the application, including login capabilities.

9. User hierarchy self-administration—Invention security modulehierarchy may provide for down-line administration of Partner loanassignments. Partner Managers can move loans to and from Loan Officersas needed, but only loans have been granted to that Partner by theInvention Administrator.

10. Real-time Notifications—The present invention may have programmaticbehavior where email notifications are sent to teams ofinvolved/assigned Users when certain User actions take place. Forexample, if a User chooses to change a loan situation or status, a blastnotification goes out immediately to administrator and managers. Similarbehavior may exist for submitting and approving variances.

FIG. 6 shows an exemplary process for a workout data flow 601. Theworkout data flow 601 illustrates an exemplary use of the WATSapplication 603. The workout data flow 601 may include sourcing pools605, analyzing pools 607, purchasing pools 609, workout pools 611,refinancing loans 613 and loan servicing feedback loops 615. Sourcingpools 605 may include gathering information from sellers and/orservicers 617. Analyzing pools 607 may include using a model 619 toselect desired pools using borrower and original loan information,pricing, valuation and risk ratings. Analytics may use pricing 621,price index 623, and/or risk rating 627. Purchasing pools 609 may useborrower and original loan information, the results of the analyzingpools 607 step, and information from workout partners and baselines. Thepurchasing pools 609 may involve a selection process 629. In workoutpools 611, the WATS application may perform functions as describedabove. For example, WATS may track loans with borrower and original loaninformation 631, assign loans with baselines 633, monitor partnerprogress with borrowers 635, process requests for variances as needed637, approve/counter/deny variances 639, report 641, access imaged loandocuments 643, and/or be a single point of data entry 645. Refinancingloans 613 may include communication with workout partners and relatedsystems 647. Loan servicing feedback loops 615 may include communicationwith loan servicers and/or special servicers 649.

Integrated System

The above-described embodiments of the present invention may beavailable independently or fully integrated as an expandable product andmethod to meet complex and changing business needs. The presentinvention may include systems and methods for value-added analysis,administration and execution of asset valuation, whole loan pricing andinventory management. The present invention may offer diverse andcompetitive modular components as well as an integrated and innovativeplatform that does not exist in the market. The asset valuation tool mayuse multiple data sources to produce current and predicted future valuesalong with historical and intermediate data points on the requestedtimeline. The loan information pricing tool may perform potentiallyunlimited volumes of loan program eligibility and multi-variablepricings by bringing server-side features to the user desktop. Theworkout activity tracking tool may be a software application anddatabase platform that offers a dynamic user interface, drives businessprogress with a prescriptive and intelligent workflow and serves as asecure data warehouse and system of record for capturing, monitoring,measuring and reporting on the many moving parts of whole loan workoutprocess including the direct hosting and integration of the assetvaluation tool and loan information pricing tool.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are an exemplary analytical process diagram 701. Datamay be accessed from an external source 703, such as external tapes. Theexternal tapes may be cracked and have information extracted 705. RAPS707 may input data into a LIPS scenario generator 709 and/or analternate exit 711, which may bypass LIPS 713 and LIPS output control717. The output of LIPS or the alternate exit may be used in anincentive test and exit adjustment 719. Default analysis and severity721 may follow, with exit ranking and selection 723. Financial models725 may be employed. One or more bids 727 may be received and accepted729. Diligence may be ordered 731 on the one or more bids 727 and adiligence template 733 may receive inputted information regarding creditreport scores 735, BPOs and values 737, title 739, credit andre-underwriting 741, verification and skip traces 743, collateral 745,servicing notes and pay strings 747, and compliance 749. The results maybe diligence tapes 751 that may be entered into RAPS 707 for ananalytics loop. Risk rating may include property value 753, propertycondition and marketability 755, credit income, occupation and generalinformation 757, and/or severity 759, which are then fed into a riskrating and findings 761. The results are then fed into RAPS for ananalytics loop. Another risk rating may be performed including a retailexit review 763 and/or an alternative exit review 765 before final exitlevels 767. A cutoff tape 769 supplies data for a draft, including loansolution 771, exit selection 773, and/or loan pricing 775. Contract loanlist and pricing 777 may be provided for funding 779 and a fundingschedule 781 may be received. Partner assignments 783 may be made withbaseline and targets 785. Partner baseline tapes 787 and partner loanorigination assignments and new loan identifications 789 may bereceived. Data may be entered into WATS 791.

FIGS. 8A and 8B are analytical process diagrams for an exemplaryworkflow and life of loan information system, respectively. FIG. 8A isan alternate description of the subject matter of FIGS. 7A and 7B. Asshown in FIG. 8A, a workflow 801 may process various pools in variousphases. RAPS, LIPS and WATS may be used in various stages of theworkflow to produce desired outputs 802. Data may be received as inputs803 and may be prepared 805. An analytical loop 807 may use varioussub-processes, such as RAPS, LIPS, and incentives. Models 809 mayinclude financial models, risk rating, etc. Actions 811 may includebidding, responses, orders, property valuation, property condition andmarketability, credit, severity, retail exit reviews, alternativereviews, etc. Outputs 813 may include due diligence tapes, risk ratings,tapes, etc.

As shown in FIG. 8B, for the life of loan information system 851, datadefinitions may be brought to the front to help define the process. Theprocess may create new data and information and the process may evolvebased upon the new data and information. The systems and method mayinclude direct and secure access and response 853, custom vendor access855, live demonstration capability 857, dynamic reporting 859, andaccess to RAPS, LIPS and WATS 861. Components may include WINforms 863,WATS application on an SQL or similar server 865, and/or an OLAP server867. Data exchanged in the life of loan information system 851 mayinclude those processes described in FIG. 8A, such as tapes, RAPS/LIPSdata, models, due diligence, risk ratings, drafts, etc. Thus, thesystems and methods of the present invention may provide value-addedanalysis, administration and execution of asset valuation, whole loanpricing and inventory management. The present invention may offerdiverse and competitive modular components as well as an integrated andinnovative platform that does not exist in the market.

The present invention may be a holistic, multi-tiered logical securityplatform incorporating internal and external checks and balances as wellas transparency to metadata (loan assignments, partner hierarchy, etc.).The present invention may maintain controls to ensure data security aswell as a centralized, one-stop point of administration to allow accesswith established logical controls to prevent an Administrator frommaking a mistake.

Although the foregoing description is directed to the preferredembodiments of the invention, it is noted that other variations andmodifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.Moreover, features described in connection with one embodiment of theinvention may be used in conjunction with other embodiments, even if notexplicitly stated above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for asset valuation, the systemcomprising: one or more processors; at least one memory operativelycoupled to the one or more processors, the at least one memorycomprising computer program instructions executable by the one or moreprocessors for performing the steps comprising: receiving a query from auser regarding an asset for valuation; accessing data related to theasset from a plurality of data sources, wherein the data comprises atleast a first index value for the asset, a second index value for theasset, and a first valuation value, wherein the first index value, thesecond index value and the first valuation value are actual values andnot estimates; calculating an index of monthly value percentage changesfrom the first index value for the asset to the second index value forthe asset; applying the index of monthly value percentage changes to thefirst valuation value to create a pattern of monthly valuation values;projecting at least one future index value by statistical trend analysisof the index of monthly value percentage changes, underlying values ofthe index of monthly value percentage changes, or other marketindicators; calculating at least one future valuation value using the atleast one future index value, wherein the at least one future indexvalue is related to the first index value or the second index value byapplication of one or more statistical methods; and presenting the atleast one future valuation value for the asset to the user responsive tothe query.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising calculating aconfidence score for the at least one future valuation value.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising producing the at least one futurevaluation value and historical and intermediate data points on arequested timeline.
 4. The system of claim 1, further comprisingcalculating a current valuation value using the index of monthly valuepercentage changes.
 5. The system of claim 1, further comprisingcalculating a valuation value at any point in time forward or backwardusing the index of monthly value percentage changes.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the calculating an index of monthly value percentagechanges comprises generating simultaneous indexes of monthly valuepercentage changes for one or more market segment.
 7. The system ofclaim 6, wherein the simultaneous indexes are dissected by one or moreattributes of the asset.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein thecalculating an index of monthly value percentage changes comprisesranking the first index value as a percentile of asset valuations in amarket comprising the asset.
 9. The system of claim 8, furthercomprising tracking assets at the percentile of asset valuations overtime.
 10. The system of claim 1, further comprising predictingaccelerating or decelerating rates of appreciation or depreciation. 11.The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more statistical methods forcalculating the at least one future valuation value is a slidingweighted average.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the second indexvalue is futures data, and wherein the at least one future index valueis related mathematically to a current index value using statisticalmethods giving more weight to a future contract the closer it is intime.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the second index value does nothave futures data, and wherein the at least one future index value isrelated mathematically to a current index value using a moving-averagetrend equation.
 14. The system of claim 1, further comprising updatingthe second index value based on receipt of actual appraisals.
 15. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the data sources are public data sourcesscrubbed for inconsistencies and data errors.
 16. The system of claim 1,further comprising applying trend and growth statistical analysis.
 17. Asystem for loan information pricing, the system comprising: one or moreprocessors; at least one memory operatively coupled to the one or moreprocessors, the at least one memory comprising computer programinstructions executable by the one or more processors for performing thesteps comprising: interfacing with one or more third party servers;interfacing with a plurality of databases in communication with the oneor more third party servers; interfacing with one or more clientdevices; formatting a pool of loans; providing a plurality of parametersfor loan pricing to the one or more client devices; receiving aselection from the one or more client devices of one or more of theplurality of parameters; processing the pool of loans based upon the onemore of the plurality of parameters; and providing loan pricing for thepool of loans to the one or more client devices.
 18. The system of claim17, further comprising load balancing between the processor and the oneor more client devices.
 19. The system of claim 17, further comprisinggrouping individual loans within the pool of loans during processingbased upon similar characteristics of the individual loans.
 20. Thesystem of claim 17, further comprising prioritizing co-pending tasksfrom multiple client devices.